Metastatic pancreatic cancer

A 69-year-old Caucasian woman who had recently been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer presented with severe low back pain associated with weakness and paresthesiae in her lower extremities. She had also developed urinary retention. She was diagnosed with spinal cord compression at T10-11 secondary to vertebral and epidural metastasis. In view of the poor prognosis, the patient was referred for palliative care. This case documents spinal cord compression secondary to bone metastasis, a rare complication of pancreatic cancer.peer-reviewe

Finding the QTLs Responsible for the Low Phytic Acid Phenotype in Triticum aestivum (Vulcan x Kewell population)

Established and supported under the Australian Government’s Cooperative Research Centre Progra

Is the Donnan effect sufficient to explain swelling in brain tissue slices?

Brain tissue swelling is a dangerous consequence of traumatic injury and is associated with raised intracranial pressure and restricted blood flow. We consider the mechanical effects that drive swelling of brain tissue slices in an ionic solution bath, motivated by recent experimental results that showed that the volume change of tissue slices depends on the ionic concentration of the bathing solution. This result was attributed to the presence of large charged molecules that induce ion concentration gradients to ensure electroneutrality (the Donnan effect), leading to osmotic pressures and water accumulation. We use a mathematical triphasic model for soft tissue to characterize the underlying processes that could lead to the volume changes observed experimentally. We suggest that swelling is caused by an osmotic pressure increase driven by both non-permeating solutes released by necrotic cells, in addition to the Donnan effect. Both effects are necessary to explain the dependence of the tissue slice volume on the ionic bath concentration that was observed experimentally

Wrinkling, creasing, and folding in fiber-reinforced soft tissues

Many biological tissues develop elaborate folds during growth and development. The onset of this folding is often understood in relation to the creasing and wrinkling of a thin elastic layer that grows whilst attached to a large elastic foundation. In reality, many biological tissues are reinforced by fibres and so are intrinsically anisotropic. However, the correlation between the fiber directions and the pattern formed during growth is not well understood. Here, we consider the stability of a two-layer tissue composed of a thin hyperelastic strip adhered to an elastic half-space in which are embedded elastic fibers. The combined object is subject to a uniform compression and, at a critical value of this compression, buckles out of the plane — it wrinkles. We characterize the wrinkle wavelength at onset as a function of the fiber orientation both computationally and analytically and show that the onset of surface instability can be either promoted or inhibited as the fiber stiffness increases, depending on the fibre angle. However, we find that the structure of the resulting folds is approximately independent of the fiber orientation. We also explore numerically the formation of large creases in fiber-reinforced tissue in the post-buckling regime

An audit on the practice of performing a chest X–Ray in infants with bronchiolitis

Introduction: Bronchiolitis is one of the most common medical emergencies in infancy. One in three infants will develop bronchiolitis in the first year of life. 2 - 3% of these require hospitalisation. Aim: To assess adherence to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and American Academy of Paediatrics Clinical Practice Guidelines for Bronchiolitis regarding the practice of performing a chest X - ray in infants aged less than 6 months presenting with viral bronchiolitis. Methodology: Data was collected on infants aged less than 6 months presenting to the Accident and Emergency department (A&E), Mater Dei Hospital, Malta or admitted with bronchiolitis between January - April 2016 and October - February 2016 - 2017. The data was retrieved retrospectively from medical records, processed and compared to the guidelines. Approval was obtained from the Audit Committee and Data Protection Act Committee. Results: 148 patients were included in the study. 81 (54.7%) had a chest X - ray. 67 (82.7%) of the chest X - rays taken were normal. 28 (34.6%) of the chest X - rays taken were indicated according to the guidelines. Only 9 out of the 81 chest X - rays taken (11.1%) led to a change in management. Conclusion: Overall percentage compliance to the guidelines was 64.2%. Compliance may be improved by having an easily available local guideline, familiarising paediatric trainees with the guidelines and increasing awareness of the harmful effects of radiation.peer-reviewe

Genetic barcoding of elasmobranches in Malta (Central Mediterranean)

The correct identification of species constitutes the first step in accurate fisheries data collection and sustainable management. DNA barcoding of a standardized sequence of the COI gene has proven to be a powerful tool in assisting conventional taxonomic methods in species identification, especially when considering species from taxa that are difficult to identify down to the species level. This paper presents work on a total of 77 elasmobranch specimens collected during commercial fishing activities between 2012 and 2013 within the 25 nautical mile Fisheries Management Zone around the Maltese Islands.peer-reviewe

Layer-by-layer films for tunable and rewritable control of contact electrification

Charges generated by contact of solid surfaces (contact electrification) can be hazardous or useful depending on the circumstance. This paper describes a process to design a solid surface rationally to either induce or prevent charging during contact electrification; this process coats the surface with polyelectrolytes. It is observed experimentally that a surface coated with a layer of a polymer having multiple, covalently attached positive charges (a “polycation”) develops a positive charge after contacting another surface; a surface coated with a layer of polymer having negative charges (a “polyanion”) develops a negative charge. By coating the surface using layer-by-layer (LBL) deposition, the tendency of the surface to charge either positively or negatively can be switched: adding a layer of polyelectrolyte with charge opposite to the charge on the surface switches the polarity of the surface. Through microcontact printing (μCP), the surface can be stamped to create a mosaic pattern of polycation and polyanion — and importantly, the fraction of the surface area covered with polycation and polyanion can be tuned by using stamps of different patterns. Using poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDDA) as the polycation and poly(sodium 4-styrenesulfonate) (PSS) as the polyanion, it is found that for a surface with >75% PSS, the surface charges negatively; with <75% PSS, the surface charges positively. At [similar]75% PSS, the surface becomes non-charging. The patterns on the surface can, subsequently, be erased through coating the surface with a uniform layer of polyelectrolyte. After erasing, the surface is rewritable by depositing or patterning the surface with a desired polyelectrolyte.Chemistry and Chemical Biolog

Governing community-based natural resource management in Australia: international implications

Community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) has grown in stature as a key component of many national natural resource and rural development governance systems. Despite their growth, the integrity of CBNRM governance systems has rarely been analysed in a national context. To enhance dialogue about how best to design and deploy such systems nationally, this paper analyses the Australian system in detail. The Australian system was selected because the nation has a globally recognised and strong history of CBNRM approaches. We first contextualise the international emergence of national CBRM governance systems before analysing the Australian system. We find that a theoretically informed approach recognising regions as the anchors in brokering multi-scale CBNRM was applied between 2000 and 2007. Subsequent policy, while strengthening indigenous roles, has tended to weaken regional brokering, Commonwealth–state cooperation and research collaboration. Our findings and consequent emerging lessons can inform Australian policy makers and other nations looking to establish (or to reform existing) CBNRM governance systems. Equally, the research approach taken represents the application of an emerging new theoretical framework for analysing complex governance systems

The Determination of the Location of Contact Electrification-Induced Discharge Events

This paper describes a method for determining the location of contact electrification-induced electrical discharges detected in a system comprising a steel sphere rolling in a circular path on an organic insulator. The electrode of the “rolling sphere tool” monitors, in real time, the separation of charge between the sphere and the organic insulator and the resultant electrostatic discharges. For every revolution of the sphere, the electrometer records a peak, the height of which represents the amount of charge on the sphere. As the charge on the sphere accumulates, the resulting electric field at the surface of the sphere eventually exceeds the breakdown limit of air and causes a discharge. The position of this discharge can be inferred from the relative amplitudes and positions of the peaks preceding and following the discharge event. We can localize each discharge event to one of several zones, each of which corresponds to a geometrically defined fraction of the circular path of the sphere. The fraction of charge on the sphere that could be detected by the electrode depended on the relative positions of the sphere and the electrode. The use of multiple electrodes improved the accuracy of the method in localizing discharge events and extended the range of angles over which they could be localized to cover the entire circular path followed by the sphere.Chemistry and Chemical BiologyEngineering and Applied SciencesOther Research Uni